2nd Generation Black Krim (freakshow!)

In a couple days a black krim tomato I grew from seed saved from last year will be ripe.  It is already soft, but still pretty green.  I had 20 or so seeds from a big giant one - here is a picture of the parent from 2011.

I thought the parent was freaky enough.  Three of the plants are in the greenhouse.  One of them I donated to my dad.  They all proved to have even freakier tomatoes than the momma!  Now that's a tomato strange enough for me. 

This tomato is the second generation.  It was a blossom that must have been two conjoined flowers, because it has what appears to be two separate tomatoes (maybe three) all stuck together.  Other tomatoes appear to have four conjoined tomatoes. Beautiful.

I like these freaky tomatoes.  They are interesting, not your run of the mill red beefsteak type.  Hope they taste the same as the parent.  

We have had several recent stretches of warmish weather that have proved to be just what the tomato plants need to ripen fruit.  I have been eating silvery fir tree tomatoes this week.  Plus lots of cherry/currant tomatoes.

I am still picking blueberries.  I found a patch of berries that will knock your socks off!!  So thick and crowded that a person simply can not stop and pick in one spot, 'cause the next spot just 10 feet away is just as good.  The best part, is that it is close to the road, just a few miles from my house!  So close that I have to hide my car in case someone recognizes me.  I also only remove my berry picking buckets when there is no traffic passing by.  We are very secret squirrel here.  So do not ask where it is...  Our answer will be "It's on Hatcher Pass."  Haha.

In this same spot we picked for 8 or 9 days straight in the same area and there are still more berries!  And these are real blueberries, not the high bush huckle/blueberries that do not taste as good but are just as blue.  It is a berry pickers' dream.  I think I may close out and go pick more berries.

Have a good day.

Finally!

Oh Hello!

It has been so long since a blog post.  I have formulated a list of excuses to compensate for lack of posting..

Excuse no. 1 - I lost my camera earlier in July.  My son has admitted to making off with it in the woods.  Up until yesterday I have been taking pictures with my phone.  Those pictures are not that great.  I now have a new camera, and to prove it, here is a picture of some carrots taken about 30 minutes ago.  My daughter LOVES carrots.

Excuse no. 2 - I began running in late April to lose the last of the weight I gained while pregnant.  And I have been running 2-5 times a week since, except when sick.  I have been too tired some nights to make a blog post.  All but six pounds of that stubborn fat I've been carrying around for four years now has finally melted off.  Melted as in the fat was glaciated onto my midsection and would not come off!!  Very slow process that losing weight business was. 

Excuse no. 3 - I only started a few plants (tomatoes, herbs) inside, the rest planted in late May.  No cukes or squash, all those planted outside direct.  That was a mistake.  Due to our cold soils, most have only started to take off.  I did, however, start a bunch of tomatoes inside.  All are doing FLABULOUS (see excuse no. 2)  These gold nuggets are ripening fast.  Very tasty and pretty. 

I also started some red currant tomatoes, and sweet pea tomatoes.  Both types have long trusses of teensy tinsy tomatoes the size of your fingernail.  The sweet pea plants are much smaller than the red currants. I think I will stick with the sweet pea tomato.

I planted six of these silvery fir tree tomatoes.  The foliage is gorgeous.  And the tomatoes are proving to be nice to look at too.  

Excuse no. 4 - I began playing the oboe again after a 14 year break over the winter.  I had to learn all those old skills again.  I even learned to make reeds - pictured are two that even play somewhat in tune.  They are a work in progress.  I play in front of people once a week in church, and also in the Mat Su Concert Band.  I love it.  Almost more than gardening, which is pretty tough to beat.

I practice in the greenhouse.  Maybe the tomatoes really love squeaky and slow Telemann Oboe Fantasy no. 1.  Be warned, someday you may see a blog post with an oboe song in it.

Excuse no. 5.  We have had a lackluster summer, until two weeks ago.  Then it became sunny and warm.  The garden finally took off.  So we have not had much to blog about, as the garden was doing very poor until recently.  Now even the squash I planted in late May has almost edible size zucchini on it. 

Excuse no. 6 - I got berry fever.  Blueberries are especially thick this year.  We have picked almost every day for a couple of weeks now.  I even dusted off my old combat boots to traipse around the berry patch with.  They work great, all broken in and all.

Ok, that's enough excuses for now.  Here is to another blog post.

Blah

Hello!!  As few and far between as these posts have been it is still gardening season, and still May.  I feel incredibly unmotivated to garden but have managed to plant 71 bags of potatoes with some unplanted seeds to spare, all of the tomato plants, broccoli raab, kale and mustard.  Seeds planted are squash, cantaloupes, basil and beets.  Last but not least are the nasturtiums and borage.  Oh yeah. 

This silvery fir tree tomato is new to us this year.  It has a lot of growing to do!!!  Hurry!

The bulbs survived and thrived.  Nettles survived too.  Other survivors are the onions my 14 month old pulled out of the flat for fun and some sunflower seeds the boy planted a couple weeks ago.  Things are growing. 

Still in their little seed flats are the mini bell peppers, scallions, parsley and cilantro.  I'm about out of steam, as I caught the local intestinal distress flu bug with head cold attached for fun. 

I'm lazy and unmotivated.  Even our compost is slow and lazy this year.  Why?  Because it hasn't been getting turned, that's why.  Let the earthworms have a ball.  There's lots of them now that the pile isn't 150 degrees from constant stirring.  Have a great day!  I'll be sitting inside nursing a head cold.